French Nuclear Project Delayed Until 2016

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--The completion of the first new nuclear plant to be built in France in 15 years has been pushed back two years until 2016.

The troubled Flamanville 3 nuclear power plant project in Normandy was due to start generating power in 2014 and is one of the key projects to showcase the new third generation, European Pressurized Reactor (EPR), developed by Areva SA (EPA:CEI) (Paris, France). This is not the first time that the Flamanville project has been hit by delays or project cost hikes. For additional information, see December 30, 2008, article - EDF Announces 20% Cost Increase for Flamanville 3 Pressurized Water Reactor.

Owner and operator of the project, Electricite de France (EPA:EDF) (Paris), also warned that project costs will jump to €6 billion ($8.6 billion), almost double the original estimate of €3.3 billion ($4.7 billion), when the project was announced in 2005. At that time, the project was expected to go live in 2012.

EDF has attributed the delays to a variety of reasons, including numerous fatal accidents at the site, construction issues and prolonged safety inspections following the nuclear disaster in March at the Japanese Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

"EDF has decided to introduce a new approach to organisation at the Flamanville (Manche) EPR in response to recent events that have slowed down progress on the work site," the company said in its official statement. "This delay is linked to both structural and economic reasons. Flamanville 3 is the first nuclear power plant to be built in France for 15 years. It is also the first EPR. In terms of industrial management, EDF has had to review its assessment of the extent of the work to be done, particularly in terms of civil engineering. While considerable progress has been made in recent months there have been two serious accidents, one of which has meant that civil engineering work had to be suspended for weeks, considerably slowing down progress for the first half of 2011. As well as this, comprehensive analyses carried out as part of the post-Fukushima safety assessment audits will be submitted to the Nuclear Safety Authority in September.

The only other EPR project under way is the slow-moving Olkiluoto 3 nuclear plant project in Finland. Originally due to be commissioned in May 2009, delays and disputes have pushed back the completion of the project until at least the end of next year. Like Flamanville, it has also run billions of euros over its original budget. For additional information, see April 21, 2010, article - Delays Strike Olkiluoto 3 Nuclear Plant--Again.

Since the announcements regarding Flamanville, EDF has been quick to try and reassure the U.K. government that it remains confident that it will be able to hit the deadlines proposed for its new nuclear projects there.

"The experience at Flamanville is invaluable as we progress in the U.K.," the company said. "Each time EDF builds the EPR, our expertise increases. We are already seeing the benefits of the experience from existing projects. We are making good progress in the UK. We are in the final stages of licensing the EPR. It is a good design which the UK regulator said last week is capable of being accepted. We have already said publicly that we will publish an adjusted timetable in the autumn."

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